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Taking the next step | ||
Tags: Loss of confidence | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Advice Center |  | |
| eoinda Tetraglot Senior Member Sweden Joined 5894 days ago 101 posts - 113 votes  Speaks: Swedish*, English, Spanish, Mandarin Studies: French | Message 1 of 7 22 November 2013 at 4:01pm | IP Logged | ||
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I've now come to a very frustrating point of my language learning journey. I would say I'm "fluent" in my two languages of interest, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese, depending on how you chategorize fluent. I would say I'm a European B2 in Mandarin Chinese and maybe a C1 in Spanish.
At this point in my studies I feel that both the languages are at a bit of a standstill. I'm at the point where I can do, read and discuss most of the things I want, but rarely with any kind of ease and confidence and I want to change that. Any ideas about what to do,tips in general or for the specific languages? Any good resources for higher levels? Simply reading a lot is probably the obvious answer but I need something that activates the languages more than that. I'm especially stressed out because I might have a job lined up where I would have to speak Chinese in a proffesional context, and while I'm sure that will be very good practice in it self I would rather not make a complete fool of myself. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
 jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6855 days ago 4250 posts - 5711 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map | Message 2 of 7 22 November 2013 at 4:25pm | IP Logged | ||
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I know that forum member Tarvos activates, maintains and improves his languages by writing a lot (e.g. text chats on Skype). If you have (or manage to find) contacts willing to talk to you in voice-chats, that's of course an option.
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| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5208 days ago 2241 posts - 6731 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 3 of 7 22 November 2013 at 5:16pm | IP Logged | ||
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I agree with jeff_lindqvist. Get speaking and writing! I hesitate to recommend private tutors, because it means spending money. Many people don't have the money available to pay for private tutor instruction. If you do, I think it would be the best money you'll ever spend on language learning.
A private tutor can be had for around $10 per hour or less online via skype or other voip connection. They can help you work on your problems in a way that other native speakers can't. For Spanish there's nulengua.com in Guatemala and there are also teachers on italki.com for both Mandarin and Spanish. Twice a week sessions can be quite useful. Even once a week is helpful. Also, think about volunteering or getting involved in a university's international students association or local volunteer group for immigrants. Good luck, and congratulations on your achievements! Edited by iguanamon on 22 November 2013 at 5:17pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4653 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 4 of 7 22 November 2013 at 5:32pm | IP Logged | ||
Make it a part of your routine to use them in your daily life - live a part of your life through them. Drop English. I have people I am used to talking to in their native tongue which is not necessarily Dutch or English. I use InterPals for penpals and I have some friends I made through travels, internet forums and whatnot. Russian is the most common one for me but today I spent an hour just watching trashy Romanian showbiz tv which was really funny. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6543 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 5 of 7 23 November 2013 at 12:30am | IP Logged | ||
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GLOSS should be a good resource. I also find the game Criminal Case very useful for advanced vocabulary (everyday objects and science).
2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| s0fist Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 4992 days ago 260 posts - 445 votes Speaks: Russian*, English Studies: Sign Language, German, Spanish, French | Message 6 of 7 23 November 2013 at 4:57am | IP Logged | ||
I know it's probably a simple typing mistake, and I'm sorry for off-topic. But, LOL. Sometimes the best inventions are unintentional. This topic deserves its own thread, and eoinda just created a great name for it. "CHATegorizing" fluency. Since we all know, most of those threads, fun as they are, are as much about chatting as they are about categorizing. :) 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| sctroyenne Diglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5337 days ago 739 posts - 1312 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Spanish, Irish | Message 7 of 7 23 November 2013 at 6:48am | IP Logged | ||
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A good thing to keep in mind is at B2 c1 levels is that progress is going to seem really slow. You can be
making leaps and bounds over the course of a year but you may not notice it unless you record yourself at different stages or have people give you feedback. Don't get discouraged and keep plugging away! For work language is going to be very task-based so you'll want to set specific targets for things you should be capable of doing and work on those (May want to find a Mandarin for Business resource to help). 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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